BENGALURU: Nikhil Kumar (32) is among the few Indian bloggers to get international recognition: his website Microcracked.com was voted the Planet’s Funniest Blog by the Bloggie award in 2006.
“I compiled 80 of my best posts for Where are My Pants?. The posts are peer-reviewed, and are a satirical take on things that happen in my life everyday. I like to be a fly on the wall in that sense.” The book hit the stands in last August.
His most popular blog post is advice on ‘How to Get a Girl’. “That’s the post with the most comments so far. As I have evolved since I wrote it, the author’s notes below offer some insights into the changes in my life,” says Nikhil.
The book gets its title from a personal experience. “Once, I came out of the loo in a towel after washing a pair of pants that I had got dirty. I saw a neighbour looking at me. I dropped the towel in an awkward moment, and she blushed as she saw that. But that pair of jeans went missing, and I never found them,” he says.
Nikhil Kumar has two other books to his credit, the first of which was released during his year-long stint with an English newspaper. He was working for its weekly science supplement before he quit to go to New York and study genetic engineering. The editor at the time, P K N Namboodiri, launched Untitled in Bangalore Press Club in 2006.
The city-based digital and social media executive is currently in talks with publishing companies for his latest, titled Anya’s Lyric, about a mentally-challenged girl.
On returning to India in 2010, he worked with a PR company in Delhi. Where are My Pants? has a small chapter dedicated to his uncomfortable stay in the capital. One of the solutions he lists is letting loose a rabid dog on the landlord. “I was in a bad relationship at the time, which made it worse,” he says.
Though he believes advertising is his calling, some quirky jargon he picked up during his stint in public relations have to made it into the book. “For instance, Boiler Plate refers to the ‘About The Company’ column of the press release. Collateral refers to any information given to the client. The pun on the word collateral got to me because I am very critical of how the English language is used,” he says with a laugh.
The book also has the author’s own dark takes on ‘Hairy Potter’ (...and the Chamber of Cigarettes, included) and Calvin and Hobbes. A recurring theme is his experience with women.
A post titled Bay of Pigs lists advice for women. “The best advice I give men is about pretending to be genuine and committed, even if you don’t mean it. Girls are able to sense these things.”
Resource: http://www.newindianexpress.com
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